


we say "i love you" (but we ain't together)

by lgbtqshipper



Category: Stargirl (TV 2020)
Genre: F/F, Families of Choice, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Miscommunication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:20:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24782197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lgbtqshipper/pseuds/lgbtqshipper
Summary: Beth prides herself on being observant.It's one of the benefits of growing up without friends--that she spent far more time watching people and figuring out what makes them tick than actually interacting with them. Basically, she's learned a lot about body language and what it means.So when Courtney and Yolanda start to act differently around each other, Beth notices.ORCourtney thinks that she and Yolanda are dating, Yolanda thinks that they're justreallygood friends, and Beth is tired of all this confusion.
Relationships: Beth Chapel/Rick Tyler (minor), Yolanda Montez & Courtney Whitmore & Beth Chapel & Rick Tyler, Yolanda Montez/Courtney Whitmore
Comments: 25
Kudos: 153





	we say "i love you" (but we ain't together)

**Author's Note:**

> the title is from "ain't together" by king princess.
> 
> for everyone who is here from my riverdale fics... so i got into another fandom 😬 but i promise i'll update my other fics soon probably!! orrrr you could just go binge-watch stargirl (you can stream all episodes on the cw!) and then you could just read this fic!
> 
> for everyone who's here from my stargirl blog ([cindyburman](https://cindyburman.tumblr.com)), welcome! this is my first time writing for a fandom other than riverdale because i usually don't feel like i know the characters enough to write fic for them but starcat is my shit and i love all the stargirl characters and we need more fics for it!!
> 
> also, [this](https://cindyburman.tumblr.com/post/621206059102633984/beth-is-super-good-at-catching-signals-it-wont) ask loosely inspired me to write this, so thanks anon!!

Beth prides herself on being observant.

It's one of the benefits of growing up without friends--that she spent far more time watching people and figuring out what makes them tick than actually interacting with them. Basically, she's learned a _lot_ about body language and what it means.

So when Courtney and Yolanda start to act differently around each other, Beth notices.

It starts out small. The day after Beth discovers that the two are SUPERHEROES, she's paying extra-close attention to them (obviously!), and so she notices things she might not have otherwise. She sees the way that they lean towards each other ever-so-slightly and the way that Yolanda actually _smiles_ around Courtney (which she hasn't done around _anyone_ since The Incident--this Beth knows for certain) but she dismisses that closeness as a result of the secret they share.

She still doesn't think much of their relationship when she joins their team, because she and Rick are still new so of _course_ Courtney and Yolanda are going to be closer to each other than either of them (especially considering that they never wanted her to join in the first place).

It's not until Beth and Rick truly earn their stripes and the four of them become not just teammates, but _friends_ (friends!! She has friends!!), that Beth really begins to wonder why the bond between Courtney and Yolanda isn't quite the same as the bonds the rest of them share.

For example, there are certain parts of them that only come out around each other. Courtney-without-Yolanda, or "Half Court" as Beth has affectionately dubbed her to Rick's great amusement and Courtney's great indignation ("I am _not_ that impulsive, right, guys? Right??... Ugh, whatever, I don't even _like_ basketball!"), is impatient and brash when Yolanda isn't there to be her voice of reason. Beth tries to keep her in check, but she can only do so much considering that Courtney hates being told what to do and all Rick does is enable her by being just as reckless. Yolanda-without-Courtney, or "All of the Cat with None of the Wild" (it's a work in progress; Rick still thinks it's funny but says it could be more succinct and Yolanda just kind of shrugged and said, "Yeah, sounds about right" in response), is quieter and less confident. Beth encourages her and gives her opportunities to speak whenever she can (which isn't easy for her, because when Beth gets on a roll, she gets on a _roll_ ), but she didn't spend the past three months trying (and failing) to coax Yolanda back out of her shell to suddenly magically succeed now. For some reason, only Courtney's electric presence and her pep talks can get Yolanda out of her head and into the conversation.

Even that, though, Beth could've brushed off--after all, aren't best friends supposed to bring out the best in each other? At least, that what she sees in TV and movies, she doesn't exactly have any prior experience to go off of. But as she spends more and more time with them, she observes even more differences in their body language. Their open posture around each other, the way their feet point toward the other, unconscious mirroring, and the way they always look at each other when they laugh--they're all surefire signs of _attraction!_ And Beth doesn't want to assume, but they only seem to get _more_ obvious! They hold hands walking down the hallway, they move their chairs at the lunch table closer to each other, and they hug each other goodbye whenever they have to go to different classes. They even _fight_ in tandem, that's how in sync they are. But what finally clinched the idea for her that Courtney and Yolanda were dating was one day during lunch when Courtney casually slung her arm over Yolanda's shoulders and the two touched their foreheads together, not doing anything but just... resting there. Beth had to look away because it felt like she was intruding on an intimate moment. She just wonders why Courtney and Yolanda haven't told her and Rick yet, she knows that she won't judge them and she thinks she knows Rick well enough by know to say that he won't either.

Whenever they all hang out, Yolanda and Courtney are always so wrapped up in each other that she and Rick usually end up talking to each other. She doesn't mind, really; at first Rick was constantly moody and sullen and thus not a great conversationalist (and she didn't blame him! If her parents were killed when she was a kid, then she thinks she probably would've been really angry too), but she thinks that she's started to wear him down with her boundless optimism, even if they did fight a lot about their opposing ways of thinking originally. Now he actually listens to her and even contributes sometimes!! Progress!! And even if he hadn't become slightly more talkative, she'd still probably prefer meeting as a group to hanging out without Rick and just with Courtney and Yolanda, because she always somehow ends up feeling like a third wheel.

Like right now.

Beth, Courtney, and Yolanda are all hanging out in Courtney's room to plan out their next move against the ISA.

"Now that Brainwave is back, won't he just be able to sense us coming?" Beth points out, tapping her pen against her chin. Yolanda frowns at the mention of her ex's dad, who woke up from his coma earlier today. He hasn't said or done anything yet, but they know that it's only a matter of time before he does.

"Okay, I know this sounds biased, but what if we kidnapped Henry?" Yolanda suggests. "We know that going after his son has drawn Brainwave out before, and we would also have leverage over him if we needed it." Courtney and Beth consider it, and then—

"You. Are. A. Genius!" Courtney says, punctuating her compliment with a kiss to Yolanda's cheek. Yolanda just giggles and smiles back at her, absolutely smitten, and it's as if they've forgotten they're not alone in this room. Beth can't take it anymore.

"Why haven't you guys just told me that you're dating?" she explodes. Courtney starts, looking like she's been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, and a slight blush colors Yolanda's cheeks.

"We—" Yolanda begins at the same time that Courtney says, "I mean—" They both stop and look at each other.

"Go ahead, babe," Courtney says with an easy, encouraging smile, and Beth wants to scream at how unsubtle they're being.

"Thanks, Court. Anyways, I was just going to say that we aren't dating, we're just friends," Yolanda explains.

Beth frowns, puzzled by how she could've been so wrong. It seemed like Yolanda sounded almost regretful when she said that she and Courtney weren't dating, but if Beth was incorrect about them dating in the first place then she's probably wrong about that as well. Surprisingly, Courtney actually seems just as confused as Beth is, if not more.

"Wait, we  _aren't_ dating?" the blonde asks, and Beth about falls out of her chair.  _So I wasn't completely wrong!_ she thinks victoriously.  _But wait, could that mean I wasn’t wrong about Yolanda's reaction either?_

Beth is brought out of her thoughts by Yolanda's sputtering.

"I—What??" she finally manages, looking bewildered beyond belief.

"I kissed you! Like, on the mouth!! And you kissed me back!!" Courtney points out, her volume rising with every second.

"Oh, damn," Beth mutters quietly, thrilled by this new revelation.

"I thought that maybe that was a 'best friends' thing!" Yolanda cries out, and Beth would feel a little more bad for them at this obvious misunderstanding if it weren't all so  _hilarious_.

"'Best friends' don't use tongue!" Courtney practically shouts, and by now Beth is laughing so hard she's clutching her sides. Courtney and Yolanda ignore her again, but she doesn't mind as much this time.

"Well, I wouldn't know!" Yolanda shouts back, and before her eyes, Beth watches Courtney abruptly deflate.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she replies at a much more reasonable volume, smacking her hand against her forehead. "I should have realized—"

"No, it's not your fault," Yolanda cuts her off, also much quieter. "It's just that... I've never really _had_ a close female friend before. My last best friend was Henry, and yeah, we _did_ kiss, but I guess it was after we started dating..."

"But I should have made sure that we were both on the same page," Courtney insists, her blue eyes wide and honest. "I shouldn't have assumed, and I really am sorry."

"I forgive you," Yolanda says immediately, before turning almost... shy. "Besides... you didn't really assume. Well, I mean, you kind of did, but..." She lets out a harsh breath, rubbing at her face. " _Why_ is this so hard to say?" Courtney and Beth are so silent you could hear a pin drop, waiting for what she'll say next.

"What I mean to say was that... you assumed right," Yolanda finishes, smiling sheepishly at Courtney, and Beth just barely keeps herself from squealing in happiness.

"Wait, what?" Courtney asks, dumbfounded. "No, seriously, I need you to clarify here, I don't want us to get our wires crossed again."

Yolanda tosses her head back and laughs, sounding more carefree and happy than Beth's heard her be... well, ever.

"I like you, Courtney Whitmore. As more than a best friend," she admits, her face splitting in a wide grin. Courtney beams at her.

"Okay, then I want to do this right," she says, adopting a faux-serious expression. "Yolanda... insert middle name... Montez... will you be my girlfriend?" Yolanda giggles and bats her eyelashes dramatically.

"I thought you'd never ask," she responds. Grinning like fools, the two of them lean in towards each other and Beth quickly clears her throat. They jump, having forgotten that she was there, and Beth just shakes her head and smiles.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds alone," she says, getting to her feet and grabbing her stuff.

"Wait, Beth!" Yolanda calls out, and Beth turns back to see her leaning comfortably into Courtney's side, a content smile on both of their faces.

"Thank you for spurring this conversation. It probably would have taken... much longer without you," she confesses sheepishly. Courtney snorts in agreement next to her, and Yolanda elbows her half-heartedly, still giddy from the past few minutes.

"For sure, we owe you," Courtney adds, and Beth can practically see the cogs in her brain moving as she brainstorms an idea to pay her back. "Oh! I know, we'll set you up with Rick!"

"What??" Beth says maybe a bit too quickly, because the other two exchange knowing looks. "I'm not—Rick—what???" Yolanda opens her mouth, probably to say something more about whatever's going on between Beth and Rick, and Beth panics and bulldozes on.

"Speaking of Rick, can I tell him about you guys?" she changes the subject abruptly, hoping she's not being too obvious. Judging from their lovesick expressions when they turn back to each other, she isn't (or their feelings have made them especially unobservant). The two have a hushed conversation for a minute before turning back to Beth.

"You can tell him," Yolanda says semi-hesitantly. "Just... make sure that neither of you tell anyone else. We want to make sure that only the people we trust know, for now at least."

Beth grins. "No problem. Who else am I going to tell, anyway? Those other friends that we don't have?" Courtney and Yolanda laugh.

"Good point," Yolanda concedes. As Beth turns to leave once more, she calls after her, "But don't think that we've forgotten about you and Rick! We're going to make it happen!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Beth yells back, but as she closes the door behind her and heads downstairs, she can't help the smile spreading across her face. What can she say? Seeing her friends happy makes  _her_ happy.

 _You'll never guess what just happened between Courtney and Yolanda!_ she texts Rick. He responds only seconds later.

_ Yeah, I won't, but I bet you'll tell me. _

Then,  _Meet at Richie's in 5?_

Grinning irrationally widely, Beth types out  _I'll be there :)_ , hits send, and starts walking to the diner, an extra skip in her step.

If somebody would have told Beth at the beginning of this year that her endless talking would bring her here: with three friends, two of which she helped set up and one of which had actually had actually invited her someplace so he could listen to her talk  _more_... well, she would have told you that you were crazy. And that's leaving  _out_ the fact that she's also a part of a superhero team.

But here she is.

And right now, Beth couldn't be happier.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! if you liked this you can validate me by leaving kudos and comments, i love hearing what people have to think about what i write! :)
> 
> and i'd really love it if you just took some time to go check out [this carrd](https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/)! remember that blm is not a trend and not just something to say until the protests die down, it's something that we have to focus on and fight for as long as we need to.


End file.
